


A Revealing Interview

by Anthemyst



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 00:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10231574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Alya Césaire uncovers more than she expects to one afternoon when she interviews Chloé Bourgeois for the Ladyblog.





	

“Chloé! Chloé!”

Rolling her eyes impatiently, Chloé glanced behind her to see Alya Césaire running down the steps of their school and barrelling towards her at top speed. “Ugh, what?” Chloé asked, already starting to turn away.

“I… was wondering…” Alya took a second to catch her breath, “if I could interview you for the Ladyblog.”

For a split second, Chloé was certain she’d misheard Alya, certain there was no way Alya would want to talk to her about anything. Then she caught herself. She was _Chloé Bourgeois_ , wasn’t she? Of course a nobody like Alya would be desperate to talk to her. Chloé scoffed. “As if,” she said. “I’m a very important person, and I don’t have time to be interviewed for your dumb little website.”

Alya raised an eyebrow. “Come off it, Chloé, I track the hits by IP address, I know you’re on my blog all the time. Besides, we might not have anything else in common but you’re almost as big a fan of Ladybug as I am.” Chloe let out a small, indignant cry at the word ‘almost’. “I thought you’d be psyched to be on the front page of the blog, it’s gonna be a big story.”

Chloé hesitated. “What story?” she asked.

“Well, you’ve been rescued by three out of Paris’ four heroes,” Alya said, “so I thought it would be fun to get your take on what each of them is like, you know? Compare and contrast. And I can always do a follow-up interview, you know, if you ever get rescued by Queen Bee.”

Chloé snorted. “Yeah, like that’ll ever happen,” she said without thinking.

Alya tilted her head to the side, confused. “Why wouldn’t it?” she asked. “No offense, Chloé, but you kind of get rescued more than anybody else. Why wouldn’t Queen Bee get a turn one of these days?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Chloé said, dropping eye contact and shrugging dismissively. “She’s the worst of the four, she’d probably just mess it up and drop me or something.”

“You take that _back_!” Alya shouted instantly, to Chloé’s surprise and confusion. “Queen Bee is an amazing hero! How dare you criticize her?”

Chloé opened her mouth, but for a moment nothing came out. “I-”

“Just because she’s _new_ , just because she’s still _learning_ -she tries so hard, Chloé! Maybe she’s not Ladybug yet but she-”

“Didn’t she rescue _you_ last week?” Chloé interrupted angrily. “You almost got crushed by a falling chunk of Notre Dame! How can you say she’s a good hero after that?”

Alya scoffed. “I didn’t die, did I? Anyway, I shouldn’t have been up there in the first place.”

“Yeah, no _kidding_ ,” Chloé said. “I don’t know why you’re always trying to get yourself killed during every akuma attack, Césaire, it’s ridiculous.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Like you care,” she said. “Look, just forget it, okay? I don’t want to interview you if you’re just going to be insulting Queen Bee the whole time, she gets enough of that already and she puts more effort in than the other three combined.” Alya turned and started walking away.

“No, wait! I-” Alya turned back around. “I’m… sorry?” The words sounded foreign coming out of Chloé’s mouth. “I won’t say anything mean about Queen Bee. I didn’t realize you liked her.”

Alya’s cheeks turned faintly pink. “Of course I like her,” she said defensively. “I like all the heroes.”

Chloé shrugged. “Well, anyway.” She let out a long-suffering sigh. “I _suppose_ I have time to be interviewed, if it’s _that_ important to you.”

“Really?” Alya asked, her eyes brightening. “Do you have time now? The study rooms in the library are open for another hour, we could grab one and do it there.”

“Sure, whatever,” Chloe said. She started walking briskly back to the school. “Let’s get it over with.”

 

* * *

 

“... and then this _one_ time,” Chloé said, “this akumatized magician tried to cut me in half. I guess because they’re always cutting beautiful women in half, you know?”

“Sure, Chloé,” Alya replied.

“Yeah, well, _anyway_ , so the Magician of Misfortune was trying to cut me in half, right, and then Ladybug just came, like, swinging through the air, I just heard this whooshing noise and suddenly I was in Ladybug’s arms, being carried to safety.” Chloé sighed happily. “Nobody pulls off a rescue like Ladybug.”

“Mm,” Alya agreed, grinning. “Yeah, she’s something else. The way she carries you, it’s like… like nothing else in the world.” Alya and Chloé smiled at each other for a few seconds, and then Alya coughed and looked down at her notepad. “Well, that’s… that’s probably way more than enough for the Ladybug piece. We should probably move on to the other heroes. What about Chat Noir? What’s being rescued by him like?”

“Oh,” Chloé said, rolling her eyes. “Chat’s fine, I guess. I mean, you know, he’ll get you to safety and all that. If he doesn’t get distracted trying to think of some pun, anyway.” Alya laughed, catching Chloé off guard. Chloé wasn’t used to other people laughing at her jokes-usually she just got some lecture on being nicer to people. Chloé smiled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong,” she continued, “he’s great, but sometimes you just want to shake him and be like, ‘Focus, we have a job to do!’, you know?”

Alya laughed again. “Yeah, I know exactly what you-wait, ‘we’?”

“Um.” Chloé’s mind raced. “I’ve helped once or twice. Actually, I’ve helped a lot. I was kind of like the third member of the team. You know, back when it was just the two of them.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Right. Well… okay, so Chat gets distracted. Anything else? He’s got a reputation as a flirt, have you ever noticed that?”

“Ha!” Chloé exclaimed. “As if. I don’t know how he got that reputation, he’s never flirted with me once.”

“Yeah, me either,” Alya agreed.

“In fact,” Chloé continued, “I basically never see him flirt with _anybody_. Nobody except…”

“Ladybug!” Alya exclaimed.

“Right? Ugh, when are those two going to get a room already?”

Alya laughed again. “Yeah, that’s another article entirely,” she said. “So…” Alya looked back down at her notepad and bit her lip. “What about Vixen?” Alya was suddenly subdued, almost shy, to Chloé’s confusion.

“Vix?” Chloé repeated. “Oh, Vix is… I mean, she’s not Ladybug,” she started.

“Obviously,” Alya agreed.

“But Vix is… I mean, she’s pretty good, I guess. For a new hero, anyway. She’s really clever. It’s probably harder to rescue people with illusions. When you can’t just, like, swing in with a yo-yo and grab a girl, you know?” Alya nodded. “So that’s… I don’t know, I guess that’s pretty cool.” Alya nodded as she wrote, and Chloé didn’t notice the return of her blush. “Oh, she’s kind of bossy, though,” Chloé added.

“She is not!” Alya exclaimed. Chloé raised an eyebrow. “Um. I mean. That is,” Alya quickly composed herself and picked her pen and notepad back up. “Bossy how?”

Chloé shrugged. “You know, she just gives you a lecture every time she rescues you, she’s all, ‘Chloé, be more _careful_ ,’ or ‘Chloé, why can’t you stay where it’s safe?’, or ‘Chloé you have to watch out better when there are harpies loose’-”

“Well, maybe she’s just worried about-”

“Or, ‘Chloé, how am I supposed to do my job if you’re always in the _way_ , you’re always just in the way, you ruin _everything_ ’-”

“I never said that!” Alya shouted indignantly. Chloé’s eyes widened, her face went white, and for a second Alya had no idea why. Then she realized her mistake. “Oh. Um. I meant… I meant…”

“I have to go, “ Chloé said, her voice shaking. “I… you got enough for your stupid article, Césaire, I gotta go.” Chloé grabbed her bag and hurried out of the library before Alya could say another word.

 

* * *

 

Chloé was in her room later that evening, trying to distract herself by watching the latest singing competition on TV, when Vixen appeared on her balcony, tapping softly at her window. Rolling her eyes, Chloé shut her TV off and got up.

“Look,” Chloé said, annoyed, as she slid the glass door aside, “you don’t have to worry about anything, Césaire. I’m not going to tell anyone your little secret. Although you should _probably_ get better at hiding it. You know, not everyone’s as selfless about that kind of thing as I am.”

Vix bit her lip. “That’s not why I’m here,” she said.

Chloé scoffed. “What, are you here to convince me it’s not really you? Don’t bother, I’m not a _complete_ idiot.”

“No, I-” Vix cut herself off with an aggravated groan. “Trixx, fangs in!” There was a flash of light that travelled up Vix, starting at her feet and working its way up, and then Alya was standing in front of Chloé, grabbing at her elbow nervously and taking a deep breath. “I came to tell you that I never said-”

“I _know_ ,” Chloé interrupted, “I know you never said I ruin everything, I just… I don’t know, I got carried away. Don’t worry about it, I don’t need your pity.”

“I never said,” Alya repeated slowly, “that you should watch out for harpies.” Chloé frowned, confused. “At least, I never said that to _Chloé_. I did, however, say something like that to Queen Bee. On our first mission together.”

Chloé blinked, her eyes growing wide. “Oh,” she finally said, her voice small. Alya and Chloé looked at one another silently for a while, and Chloé’s blinking grew more rapid until finally she could no longer hold back her tears. Chloé brushed them aside impatiently, then turned away. “Well… well, that’s just perfect, isn’t it?”

“Chloé-”

“ _What_? What else could you possibly want, Alya?”

Alya took another deep breath. “Is it really so awful,” she asked in a whisper, “that it’s me?”

“Yes!” Chloé exclaimed angrily, turning back around. Her tears were falling freely now, but she didn’t seem to care. “I was so happy when I got my Miraculous, Alya! Because… I’m not an idiot, Alya, I know how people see me, I know nobody likes me. Ever since Ladybug appeared all I ever wanted was to be like _her_ , and… and then I had my chance, finally! And I had my own partner, too! And I thought, I thought finally, there are people who don’t know me as that spoiled brat Chloé. But it’s _you_ ,” she spat, “it was you all along and now you’re never going to see me as anything else, not even when I’m Queen Bee. Now I’m just _me_.”

Alya’s jaw dropped. “But… but that’s not how I see you at all!” Chloé scoffed. “No, really,” Alya insisted. “I mean… okay, maybe it took me a few hours just now, to get used to the idea,” she admitted, “but it’s not like you’re suddenly not QB, now that I know you’re Chloé. I _like_ QB! I meant everything I said about her!” Alya took a few steps towards Chloé, closing the distance between them before Chloé could back away. She put a hand on Chloé’s shoulder. “You try so hard,” Alya said. “I see it, and I know Ladybug and Chat Noir see it too. And now that I know, I realize that you’ve been trying as Chloé, too. I know it isn’t easy for you, I know it’s harder as Chloé, but you’ve definitely gotten nicer since getting your Miraculous. People see that, even if they don’t know why. They appreciate it. You don’t have to hide who you are, or become a completely different person. You don’t have to hide behind a mask to get people to like you.”

Chloé let out a shaky breath, but she’d stopped crying. “Really?” she asked.

Alya nodded sincerely. “I mean… I like you,” she whispered.

Chloé looked into Alya’s eyes. She’d looked into Vixen’s eyes plenty of times before, of course, but looking into Alya’s was different somehow. Vix’s eyes always had a playful, almost mischievous spark to them. They caught Chloé off-guard, stole her breath away more often than not, but it was also hard to believe that Vix was serious about anything, when her eyes looked like that. Alya’s eyes, on the other hand, were dead serious. Chloé believed wholeheartedly that Alya meant every word she’d said.

“I like you, too,” Chloé whispered back.

Alya’s breath caught in her throat. “QB,” she said slowly, “do you… do you mean-”

Quickly, before she had a chance to second-guess herself, Chloé leaned forward and kissed Alya. She pulled away after a few seconds, feeling lightheaded and trying to catch her breath as Alya stared at her, stunned. Then a grin broke out on Alya’s face and Chloé sighed in relief.

“Really?” Alya whispered. “I… I had no idea that you…”

Chloé grinned. “I guess you’re not as clever as I thought, you dumb fox,” she said, before leaning in and kissing her partner again.


End file.
